An unnamed insurer has come in for praise from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for highlighting policy exclusions on its website before customers even begin to start applications.
In its Consumer Duty implementation: good practice and areas for improvement document published yesterday the regulator highlighted a number of areas of improvement and good practice from the industry as they get to grips with the regulations.
Touching on its consumer understanding outcome, the FCA explained the Duty aims to ensure that consumers understand the information they are given and make timely and informed decisions.
“Consumers can only be expected to take responsibility for their financial decisions where firms’ communications enable them to understand their products and services, their features and risks, and the implications of any decisions,” the regulator said.
“We want firms to support their customers by helping them make informed decisions about financial products and services.
“We want customers to be given the information they need, at the right time, and presented in a way they can understand.
“This is integral to firms creating an environment in which customers can pursue their financial objectives.”
And in identifying examples of good practice of redesigning customer journeys, focusing on how consumers behave in practice and risks of harm, to better support understanding, the regulator highlighted an unnamed insurer who had “adapted its approach to highlight its policies’ exclusions on its website before customers start their application, so it’s clear up front what the policy doesn’t cover”.
